Welcome To Dog Training
Here you will find everything about: dog training, free dog training tips, dog training tips, dog obedience training, home dog training, dog potty training, therapy dog training, best dog training book, dog agility training, dog training tips, free dog training manual, leash training dog, basic dog training tips, potty training dog, dog training, dog house training, dog training books, dog training leas collar, protection dog training
It's essential for dog parents like you to know certain basic factors that determine your relationship with your Dog and can go a long way in training him effectively.
Before you begin training your Dog, it is absolutely essential that you build a loving bond with him. This is important as it helps you to understand his needs and instincts and also allows your Dog to have complete trust in you.
How To Bond With Your Dog
Building a bond with your Dog is the first and the most crucial step involved in training him successfully. As soon as you bring your Dog home, you must first try to develop a caring and loving relationship with him in order to win his trust and confidence.
When dogs are secure in the knowledge that they belong to the family, they are more likely to respond better to their owners' training commands. Just like with any relationship, there must be mutual trust and respect between you and your Dog.
Trust takes time to develop and respect comes from defining boundaries and treating any breach of those boundaries with firmness and fairness.
Without enforceable limitations, respect can’t be developed. And when there is no respect, building a bond with your Dog is almost impossible.
4 Golden Rules To Building A Relationship With Your Dog :
- Spend quality time together;
- Take him out in the world and experience life together;
- Establish and promote a level of mutual respect; and
- Develop a way of communicating to understand each other's needs.
Building a bond with your Dog will not only help you manage him better but will also make your Dog calm, quiet and an extremely well-adjusted pet.
Love Your Dog and He Will Love You back
Once you're succesful in building a bond with your Dog, you can rest assured that training him and teaching him new and clever tricks will be a cakewalk.
How Your Dog Learns...
Your Dog's learning period can be divided into five phases:
The Teaching Phase - This is the phase where you must physically demonstrate to your Dog exactly what you want him to do.
The Practicing Phase - Practice makes Perfect. Once a lesson is learnt, practice with your Dog what you have just taught him.
The Generalizing Phase - Here you must continue practicing with your Dog in different locations and in an environment with a few distractions. You can take your Dog out for a walk, or to a nearby park and command him to practice whatever you've taught him.
Practicing the learned lessons in multiple locations and in the presence of small distractions will help him learn and retain lessons better .
The Testing Phase - Once you're sure that your Dog has achieved almost 90% success....he responds correctly almost every time you give a command, you must start testing his accuracy in newer locations with a lot of distractions.
Example: Take him to the local shopping mall and ask him to obey your command. He may not come up with the correct response the very first time you do this, but you must not lose hope.
The idea is to test your Dog to see how he responds in an environment which is new to him. Set-up a situation where you are in control of the environment and your Dog.
There are only 2 possibilities:
- Your Dog succeeds!!! (Trumpets please!)
- In case your Dog fails, re-examine the situation. Review and/or change your training. Then try testing again.
Keep on testing until he succeeds. Follow the rule of the 3 Ps – patience, persistence, praise.
Internalizing Phase - Finally, comes the extremely rewarding phase where your Dog does everything he is taught to do even without your commands.
Remember:
- Never scold your Dog if he fails. It's not his fault. You have failed as a trainer!
- You must be patient and persistent for your efforts to show rewards.
- Appreciate and love your Dog when he does it right! A little encouragement will work wonders for your Dog.
"Dog Training Secrets" is jam-packed with useful,
easy-to-understand and easy-to-apply advice that you can use to start
training your new dog or puppy today! This is a new product, and
testimonials are just starting to pour in. But I have to admit, I was
totally blown away by one recent reader, who sent Charlie an,
unsolicited, video testimonial for Dog Training
Secrets! Anyway, watch what Ken Sullivan says about this
amazing system...
Remember, the sooner you get started
training your dog, the better, so
click here
now to check it out.
"Transform Your Stubborn,
Out-Of-Control Dog Or Puppy Into A Well-Trained, Loyal And Affectionate
'Best Friend' That Obeys Your Every Command — And Start Seeing
Results The Very First Day!"
This amazingly simple,
step-by-step training
system
is
unlike anything you've ever seen.
Now you can
train your dog or puppy in just 30 days or less...
... Even if you're a
total
beginner,
and even if you've already tried everything but failed miserably.
Click "play" to view right now!
PLAY DEAD/BANG
Agility Use: to get dog to down on table if you are
having problems with this obstacle
How: With dog in sit or stand stay, point finger and
pull hand up while saying bang. This action is similar to the down hand signal.
Dog must lie down on side with head down. You may have to do in stages - down
and side.
CIRCLE
Agility Use: to improve corners and turns and weaving
- helps increase flexibility
How: With dog in stand stay in front of you, give
"circle" command and entice dog with food treat or toy to turn in
circle. Don't encourage to "chase tail'. Give reward when dog turns fully.
Gradually give command from greater distances. For distance, it helps to put
reward on end of pole and use to get dog to turn in circle.
BOW
Agility Use: before doing agility, this is a good
stretching exercise. Can also help on down contacts
How: With dog in stand stay, handler in front of dog,
with reward (food treat) in hand. Move both hands in towards dogs front paws
(above paws) while saying "bow". As dog extends head down for treat
in a bow position, reward. This trick is eventually down at a distance and can
be down from the side with a single hand command.
CRAWL
Agility Use: Helps dogs who will not go through tunnel
BACK UP
Agility Use: positioning dog at start, repositioning
if dog slightly overruns weave poles, general control
How: Handler in front of dog. Step into the dog, move
hands towards dog in a pushing motion (palms up facing dog). Dog will have to
move backwards as you move into it. Reward with "good back" as soon
as dog takes one step. Best way to reward is to toss treat into dogs mouth. If
you let him take it from your hand it is hard to get distance on this one.
Leash can be used to move dog back if he has trouble. Wall keeps dog straight.
Gradually stop moving towards dog as you give the verbal command and hand
signal. When learned properly, the dog will back away from you in a straight
line for extensive distance (depending on comfort zone of your dog).
TOUCH/TARGET
Agility use: use to send your dog to an obstacle or to
encourage touching contact
How: Train this one by first having dog touch a piece
of paper stuck to the wall. Take dog to wall, command "touch" or
"target" and touch the paper. When dog jumps up and touches the
paper, reward her. Then place an object on floor and send dog to "touch or
target. Reward when dog moves to object and touches it.
TURN OUT LIGHT
Agility Use:
same as target - a fun trick to do that helps dog learn to go away from handler
and touch or
manipulate an object
How: Hold treat at light switch (make sure dog can
reach the switch when on back legs. For short dogs, place on sturdy table at
light switch). Give command "turn out light" or "light
off". When dog jumps up to get treat make sure her paws hit the switch.
Reward with "good light off/out", or whatever your command was.
Gradually start to stand away from switch and send dog. Toss treat when dog
jumps up and paws at light. You can also teach this by placing the treat on the
switch so dog has to knock it off. This method may, however cause the dog to
use the mouth to hit the switch more than the paw so it is preferable to hold
the treat in the hand.
JUMP OVER DOGS
Agility use: Practising jumping obstacles, socializing
with other dogs, being handled on obstacles from both sides
How: This is an interesting trick to do once you have
a group of dogs that meet certain qualifications:
- Get
along (ie non aggressive with each other)
- Keep a
still down stay
- Good at
jumping low obstacles
If you have this combination, this trick can look very impressive. First start with pairs. Have one dog in a down stay with the handler holding the leash short and a treat in hand if required. The other handler gives the "over" command and while on leash has the dog jump the one who is down. Repeat in opposite direction to get dog used to jumping on both sides of handler. Then switch dogs. When the pairs are reliable, put up to 6 dogs in down stays about 3 feet apart (depending on size of jumper). One dog (on leash to begin) jumps all of the other dogs. This is repeated several times for each dog and then they change places until all dogs have had a turn jumping.
WALK UNDER
Agility Use: apart from teaching a long stretch
exercise which is good for warming up, there isn't too much related to agility
in this one but its fun and looks good.
How: Same qualifications for dogs as Jumping Dogs.
Once all of the dogs can bow and hold it, line up dogs very close together and
give the "bow" command at same time. Tell dogs to "stay" -
handler holds treat close to keep attention. You need to use a very small dog
such as a terrier for the next part. While the larger dogs are in bow position,
the small one starts at one end and walks under their rear legs. Trick is to
keep the large dogs from lying down. This takes great concentration and muscle
control by the large dogs.
SPEAK
Agility use: none
How: This is usually a simple one to teach if your dog
likes to bark at you. Trick is to get her to do it on command and from distances.
First decide on a hand signal that is not similar to any other. You can use a
motion of opening and closing thumb and fingers (facing the dog). Some handlers
think this looks more like a mouth opening and closing. Other handlers use a
closed fist, twisting motion. Tell your dog to "speak" at the same
time. When she does, reward with treat immediately and say "good
speak". If your dog doesn't bark readily, continue to give command until
she gets really fed up with you and barks. Then quickly reward. She wont know
why but if done enough, she'll get the message. Gradually give the command
verbally only and then hand signal only. Increase distance to the maximum
comfort zone.
WEAVE HEELING
Agility use: improves flexibility
How: Start heeling off leash. Have a treat in both
hands. As you step with right foot exaggerate the step and bait dog under your
leg while saying "weave". Dog is to walk under your leg to your right
side. Then as you take the left foot step, repeat to left side. Continue as you
move forward. This trick takes time to learn and if you have a large dog it can
be more difficult. The trick is to keep the dog weaving in and out under your
legs. Once you have this one, you can combine it with the next trick (circle
me) into a complete heeling pattern.
CIRCLE ME
Agility use: circles improve turns and keeps dog
focussed on handler. May help in direction changes
How: Start heeling with treat in hand. Bait dog while
saying "circle me" and draw the dog around your body so dog is
completing a circle around you. Remember to continue to move forward while
doing this. Make it lots of fun and get dog to skip around you. This is a fun
trick - not an obedience exercise. Change direction until dog can circle you in
both directions. When you've got this down to a fine art, do two circle me's, 2
weaves, repeat, repeat. Then make up different combinations. For example:
circle me, circle me, weave, weave, circle me, circle me, bow (and then
reward). Note that this can takes several weeks to get or your dog may pick it
up very fast.
Agility use: none
How: Place dog in sit stay. Decide on a hand signal.
It can be a circular movement of your hand like a wave or hold hand palm up and
wave fingers in and out (as in making a fist). It is not recommended doing a
real wave with palm facing down. It looks too much like the speak command and
can confuse the dog. Sitting close to your dog give the command and hand
signal. If dog doesn't do anything nudge her paw until she lifts it up. Reward.
Eventually require her to lift paw higher. Always reward every time she does
it. Eventually start to give command from farther back.
HIDE YOUR EYES
Agility use: none
How: The dog can be in a sit or down for this one. The
idea is to get her to cover her eyes with one paw on command. It will take some
practice to find out the best method for your dog as we find they all respond
to different signals. You may prefer to do it in a down. Then with treat in
hand, tell the dog to "cover your eyes". Physically lift her paw over
her muzzle and reward. If you blow gently on her nose, she may be inclined to
swipe at her face. When she does this, reward. You have to just repeat the
command and movement until the dog realizes what is needed to get the treat.
BOOK ON HEAD
Agility use: balance
How: Find a book that is suitable to the size of your
dog. Balance book either on head between ears, on withers or on muzzle. This
depends on your dog's body shape. Hold the dog still with left hand and place
book with right. Hold book while saying "stay". Eventually remove
both hands (slowly) until dog is balancing book. Count to 3 and remove and
release and reward. Idea is to increase time the dog holds the book. The
ultimate is to have the dog come while balancing the book. This is a hard one
so don't expect instant success.
COOKIE ON NOSE
Agility use:
none
How: Hold dogs muzzle and give "stay" or
"leave it" command. Place a cookie on top of nose and continue to say
"stay" or "eave it". Let go of muzzle. Dog must hold the
cookie until you give a release command - "take it". Then she must
catch the cookie in her mouth. This is a fun way to give treats and looks cute.
FIND IT
Agility use: none
How: The idea is to have the dog use her nose to find
a hidden object. This is good practice for tracking or utility work. First
start with simple exercises. Show the dog a treat (strong smelling ones work
best). Then let the dog see you place it under the edge of a towel about 6 feet
away. Let the dog smell the scent of the treat on your hand. Send dog and say
"find it". Reward with praise when she finds the treat. The reward is
the treat. Start to move farther back from the hiding place and move the
location of the treat - put it further under the towel so it is harder to get
out. Then leaving towel in same place, put the treat a few feet away from the
towel and send the dog. The dog will have to sniff out the location.
Eventually, you will place the dog with her back to the location and have
someone make sure she cant see where you put the treat. Then when that level
has been achieved, move the dog to another room, hide the treat, let dog sniff
your hand and send to "find it". Give lots of praise. You can
eventually move from food to solid obstacles such as keys, toys, etc. This
makes the exercise into a retrieval.
SNEEZE
Agility use: none
How: The object is to make your dog sneeze on command.
The signal will be the handler cupping her hands around her nose and mouth and
saying "sneeze". With the handler seated in a chair, have your dog in
a sit/stay in front of you. Cup your hands around her muzzle, say sneeze and
blow gently into her nostrils. Continue until she either snuffles, sneezes or
makes any such motion. Reward "good sneeze" and treat. Repeat. This
may take a long time depending on the dog. Some will sneeze immediately, and
others will take a lot of work to respond.
GO THAT WAY
Agility use: sending dog to a location
How: The object is to tell the dog to go in a certain
direction and she will move wherever you point. First use a bait (can be food
or toy). Place three baits - one directly in front of you about 10 feet away,
one along the same line (10 feet away) to the right and one to the left. Dog is
in sit or stand beside you on long line (or flexi). On command "go that
way", point to the treat you want the dog to go to. If dog has trouble,
toss a treat in that direction to get her started. Reward when she moves
correctly. If the dog goes wrong way, stop her with the long line and direct
again. Continue to give the command until there is success. Once dog picks up
first treat point to the next one and say "go that way", and so on.
The dog must pay attention and move in the direction you are pointing to.
Eventually you will start to give commands when the dog is in a position away
from you. For example, send your dog to the left (may have to toss a treat.)
When she gets there tell her to "down" or "sit". If she
does it, walk in and reward. Alternate commands until your dog will obey from
longer distances.
SAY PRAYERS
Agility use: none
How: The object is to have your dog put his head down
between his paws on the command "say prayers" and to end the exercise
on the command"amen". Start with handler seated on a chair, dog in
sit/stay in front. Put a treat on chair between your legs. Tell dog to
"say prayers" and encourage or lift both front paws on to the chair
(NOTE: dog must remain seated). The action is similar to a beg with the paws
resting on the chair. Tell dog to "leave it" so he doesn't eat treat
and repeat "say prayers". Dog should stick nose down to the treat
between paws. Then give release "amen" and reward with the treat. You
may find this easier to do on a low table. While standing behind dog, guide
paws on to table and encourage him to lower muzzle between paws towards the treat.
Barking dogs, Understanding it and dealing with it |
| Some owners seem to want their dogs to stop barking, period: a good dog is a
quiet dog, and the only time that barking’s permitted is when there’s a man in a
black balaclava and stripy prison outfit, clutching a haversack marked ‘Swag’,
clambering in through your bedroom window. Dogs don’t see barking in quite the
same light. Your dog has a voice, just like you do, and she uses it just how you
do too: to communicate something to the people she cares about. I don’t think
that barking is necessarily a bad thing – in fact, I think it’s encouraging that
my dog wants to “talk” to me, enough so that I can overlook the stentorian
qualities of his voice (which, in enclosed spaces, is positively overpowering)
in favor of his desire to communicate with me. It’s the thought that counts
(even though I feel better-equipped to stand by this sanctimonious belief when
my ears are sheltered safely behind industrial-quality ear-plugs).
Unfortunately, the language barrier between dogs and humans is pretty well
impermeable, which means it’s up to us to use the context, the body language of
our dogs, and the circumstances of the vocalization to parse meaning from a
volley of barks. So why do dogs bark? It’s not easy to say (it’s like trying to
answer the question, “Why do humans talk?” in so many words). Let’s start off by
saying that dogs bark for many different reasons. A lot of it depends on the
breed: some dogs were bred to bark only when a threat is perceived (this is true
of guarding breeds in particular, like Rottweilers, Dobermans, and German
Shepherds); some were bred to use their voices as a tool of sorts, to assist
their owners in pursuit of a common goal (sporting breeds such as Beagles and
Bloodhounds, trained to ‘bay’ when they scent the quarry), and some dogs just
like to hear themselves talk (take just about any of the toy breeds as an
example of a readily-articulate dog!). Unwarrantened Barking  However, all breed specificities cast aside, there are some circumstances where just about any dog will give voice: * She’s bored * She’s lonely * She’s hungry, or knows it’s time for a meal * Something is wrong/someone is near the house * She’s inviting you to play * She sees another animal * She needs the toilet If your dog is barking for any of these reasons, it’s not really realistic for you to try to stop her: after all, she’s a dog, and it’s the nature of all dogs to bark at certain times and in certain situations. Presumably you were aware of this when you adopted your friend (and, if total silence was high on your list of priorities, you’d have bought a pet rock, right?). Of course, there are times when barking isn’t only unwarranted, it’s downright undesirable. Some dogs can use their voices as a means of manipulation. Take this situation as an example: You’re lying on the couch reading a book. Your dog awakes from a nap and decides it’s time for a game. She picks up her ball, comes over, and drops it in your lap. You ignore her and keep on reading. After a second of puzzled silence, she nudges your hand with her nose and barks once, loudly. You look over at her – she assumes the ‘play-bow’ position (elbows near the floor, bottom in the air, tail waving) and pants enticingly at you. You return to your book. She barks again, loudly – and, when no response is elicited, barks again. And this time, she keeps it up. After a minute or so of this, sighing, you put down your book (peace and quiet is evidently not going to be a component of your evening, after all), pick up the ball, and take her outside for a game of fetch. She stops barking immediately. I’m sure you know that respect is an essential part of your relationship with your dog. You respect her, which you demonstrate by taking good care of her regardless of the convenience of doing so, feeding her nutritious and tasty food, and showing your affection for her in ways that she understands and enjoys. In order for her to be worthy of your respect, she has to respect you, too. Not About Equality  Something that many kind-hearted souls struggle to come to terms with is that dog ownership is not about equality: it’s about you being the boss, and her being the pet. Dogs are not children; they are most comfortable and best-behaved when they know that you are in charge. A dog has to respect your leadership to be a happy, well-adjusted, and well-behaved pet. In the situation above, there was no respect being shown by the dog. She wasn’t inviting her owner to play; she was harassing her owner to play. In fact, I’d even say bullying. And even worse, the behavior was being reinforced by the owner’s capitulation – effectively, giving in to this behavior taught her that to get what she wants, she has to make a noise – and she has to keep it up until her goal is achieved. Affection and play-times are obviously necessary aspects of life with a dog, but they have to be doled out on your own terms. If she learns that she can get what she wants by barking, then your house is going to become a Noise Pollution Zone (and this is not going to endear you to your neighbors, either). To prevent this bullying behavior in your dog from assuming a familiar role in her repertoire of communications, you have to prove to her that you’re not the kind of person that can be manipulated so easily. It’s simple to do this: all you have to do is ignore her. I’m not talking about passive ignorance, where you pay her no attention and simply continue with whatever it was you were doing – you need to take more of an active role. This means conveying to her through your body language that she is not worthy of your attention when she acts in such an undesirable manner. The absolute best and most effective thing for you to do in this case is to give her the cold shoulder. When she starts trying to ‘bark you’ into doing something for her, turn your back on her straight away. Get up, avert your eyes and face, and turn around so your back is towards her. Don’t look at her, and don’t talk to her – not even a “no”. She’ll probably be confused by this, and will likely bark harder. This is particularly true if you’ve given in to her bully-barking in the past – the more times you’ve reinforced the behavior, the more persistent she’s going to be. In fact, the barking will almost certainly get a lot worse before it gets better – after all, it’s worked for her the past, so it’s understandable that she’ll expect it to work again. As in all aspects of dog training, consistency is very important. You must ensure that you don’t change your mind halfway through and give in to what she wants – because by doing so, you’re teaching her to be really, really persistent (“OK, so I just need to bark for ten minutes instead of five to get a walk,” is the message she’ll get). But what can you do in other situations where bullying isn’t an issue and you just want her to stop the racket? If you want to get the message across that you’d like her to cease fire and be quiet, the most effective thing you can do is to use your hands. No, I’m not talking about hitting her: this is a perfectly humane, impact- and pain-free method of conveying that what you require right now is peace and quiet. Here’s what you do: when she’s barking, give her a second to ‘get it out of her system’ (it’s a lot kinder, and a lot more effective, to give her a chance - however brief – to express herself before asking her to be quiet). If she doesn’t calm down under her own steam, reach out and clasp her muzzle gently, but firmly, in your hand. She’ll try to shake you off, or back away, so you can place your other hand on her collar to give you greater control. This method is useful for two reasons: firstly, it effectively silences the barking (since no dog, no matter how loud, can bark with her mouth shut!). Secondly, it reinforces your authority: you’re showing her through direct physical action that you’re a benevolent but firm leader who will brook no nonsense, and who won’t balk when it comes to enforcing your guidance. Hold onto her muzzle and collar until she’s stopped trying to break free: only when she calms down and stops wriggling does it mean that she’s accepted your authority. When she’s still, hold on for one or two more seconds, then let her go and praise her. In addition to this short-term fix, there are also a few things you can to do to reduce your dog’s need to bark in the first place. The number-one cause for unwanted barking (as in, the kind of barking that’s repetitive and is directed at nothing) is nervous, agitated energy – the kind she gets from not getting enough exercise. Most dogs function best with one and a half hours’ exercise every day, which is a considerable time commitment for you. Of course, this varies from dog to dog, depending on factors like breed, age, and general level of health. You may think that your dog is getting as much exercise as she needs, or at least as much as you can possibly afford to give her – but if her barking is coupled with an agitated demeanor (fidgeting, perhaps acting more aggressively than you’d expect or want, restlessness, destructive behavior) then she almost definitely needs more. Fortunately, the fix for this problem is pretty simple: you’ll just have to exercise her more. Try getting up a half-hour earlier in the morning – it’ll make a big difference. Too Much Alone Time If this is absolutely impossible, consider hiring someone to walk her in the mornings and/or evenings. And if this is impossible too, then you’ll just have to resign yourself to having a loud, frustrated, and agitated dog (although whether you can resign her to this state remains to be seen). The second most common cause of excessive vocalization in dogs is too much ‘alone time’. Dogs are social animals: they need lots of attention, lots of interaction, and lots of communication. Without these things, they become anxious and on edge. If you’re at home with your dog, you’re not paying attention to her, and she’s spending a lot of time barking at what appears to be nothing, she’s probably bored and lonely and would benefit from a healthy dose of affection and attention. Recommended reading If you’d like more information on unwanted behaviors that your dog’s exhibiting, you’ll probably be interested in taking a look at Secrets to Dog Training. It’s a complete, A-Z manual for the responsible dog owner, and deals with recognizing, preventing, and dealing with just about every problem dog behavior under the sun. Just click on the book |
